Is Google Duplex AI On Its Way To Conquer Call Centers?

Despite the rather… messy nature of Google and Gmail today – especially with its data access debacle – it appears the tech giant is still on its way to become a juggernaut of technological innovation. This time, a newer, more powerful artificial intelligence (AI) is on its payroll. And of course along with it are genuine concerns about its effects to the human population. Will the Google Duplex AI be on its way to conquer call centers?

Some people are starting to speculate that Google’s acquisition of Duplex AI might be its first step towards fully automating its fleet of customer service representatives, but Google denies this allegation. Is this true, though?

At first glance, Google has pegged the Google Duplex to be technology designed to work with people and not exactly take their job opportunities – at least, this is what Google is saying. It can be remembered that when Google revealed Duplex in its May I/O conference, it caused quite a bit of a panic streak amongst onlookers and fans. The Duplex Technology is geared as an expansion of its Google Assistant that’s designed to sound more similarly to a human.

According to Google, Duplex’s primary function is to use artificial intelligence to call businesses on your behalf. For instance, if you have an appointment with a salon on Saturday, Duplex can do the negotiations for you so you don’t have to be put on hold.

Interestingly, a company appears to want to use Duplex on the reverse – as in to talk to people on behalf of businesses. While yet-to-be-named, this insurance company appears to be looking into ways Duplex can be used in call centers in terms of customer service, but Google has denied these allegations.

According to Google, the company is currently focused on making sure the Duplex technology is used for the benefit of consumers – that they get things done. The focus towards applying it for enterprises are yet to be considered, and they’re not testing Duplex with any clients on an enterprise level either. Google asserted that Duplex is designed to work with very specific cases, and they’re currently using it with things such as holiday hours, hair salon booking, and restaurant observations.

The report later added that the said company looking to use Duplex for call centers have slowed down work because of ethical discussions. After all, the idea of calling a customer service representative and doubting whether you’re talking to a human or a robot is a bit disturbing.